Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Anti-fluoride campaigners will be have the opportunity to grill senior councillors at a meeting next week.

Members of Fluoride Free Cumbria will attend Cumbria County Council's cabinet meeting, following its petition for a full council debate into the removal of artificial fluoride from Cumbrian water.

The petition has been referred to the council by Eric Nicholson, chair of the Allerdale Local Committee.

And among the questions set to be posed by the group to councillors is the council's alleged failure to warn those who use milk formula against mixing the powder with fluoridated water.

Paul Carr, chair of Fluoride Free Cumbria, said: "We asked Colin Cox, director of Public Health for Cumbria, to communicate this important information to parents early in 2016 but no action has been taken to date.

Babies who ingest high levels of fluoride are at risk of damage to their mature teeth called dental fluorosis.

"Dental fluorosis is poorly understood and there have been no long term studies to investigate any association with other potential health concerns.

"In the USA, many areas already warn parents about mixing baby formula with fluoridated water and the level of fluoride used in public water supplies has now been reduced to less than half that authorised by Cumbria County Council.

"We believe every family has the right to knowledge about the consequences of swallowing fluoride and we are urging Cumbria County Council to provide public health information about excess fluoride consumption."